Local Taliban leader killed in N. Afghanistan airstrike

A key Taliban local leader has been killed following an airstrike in Afghanistan's northern province of Jawzjan, authorities said Saturday.

"Mohammad Wali was killed and three of his subordinates were wounded after Afghan Air Force launched an airstrike in Maymelike village of Faizabad district late Friday," the Afghan army's Corps 209 Shaheen based in the region said in a statement.

In a separate development, four Taliban militants were killed following an accident bomb blast in northern province of Kunduz early Saturday, provincial government spokesman Esmatullah Muradi told Xinhua.

The militants were carrying an improvised explosive device (IED) in Chem Tepa area of Qalay-i-Zal district when the IED detonated accidentally, leaving the casualties.

Among those killed was a Taliban bomb-making expert named Qari Mahbub, the official added.

Fighting has escalated in Afghanistan as the Taliban insurgency spreads from its traditional strongholds in the south and east to the once peaceful region in the north, where Taliban have been recruiting from among the youth.